2023 was a successful year for Deepika Padukone!

Deepika Padukone has been successfully working in the Hindi film industry since 2007 when her debut film ‘Om Shanti Om’ was released and became a massive hit. Throughout her career, she also got offers to move to the West. But unlike Priyanka Chopra, who created her space in Hollywood, Deepika maintained that ‘India is home’ and stayed in the country.

In a new interview with ‘Vogue’, Deepika shared that she was told during her modelling days that she belonged in Paris and Milan and should move there. “Early on in my modelling career, I had an offer to move overseas and all of the fashion gurus in India said, ‘You shouldn’t be here. You should be in Paris, New York or Milan’ and I was like, ‘No, those places are not my home. India is home’,” the actor said.

Even today, the ‘Pathaan’ star won’t shift her base to the West if given a chance. Deepika, who starred in the 2017 Hollywood action-thriller ‘XXX: Return of Xander Cage’, added, “Why do I need to move with a bag and baggage to have a global impact?”

2023 was a successful year for Deepika as she delivered two superhits, ‘Pathaan’ and ‘Jawan’. Both the films did a business of over Rs 1000 crore. She is among the most bankable actresses with films like ‘Padmaavat’, ‘Bajirao Mastani’, ‘Happy New Year’, ‘Chennai Express’ and ‘Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani’. But she had her share of hardships during the beginning of her career in an industry that favours star kids.

Asked how she dealt with the ‘insecurities of the insiders’, Deepika replied, “I had no choice. When you were an outsider 15 or 20 years ago, there was no other option. It’s an uphill task for any individual trying to make a mark in a field or profession that their parents don’t come from. The fact that we’ve started to articulate things like nepotism is a new trend. It existed then, it exists now and it will continue to exist. That was my reality.”

But as she narrated her story of being in a new city with none of her family members or friends around, she also cheered for herself for emerging triumphant amid the hardships. “Back then, I had so many things to deal with, not just professionally but also personally. I was a teenager moving to a new city with no family or friends in a new industry. I had to figure out my meals and transport and lug my own bags around. I never thought of it as a burden back then.”

Deepika is looking forward to her next big release, ‘Fighter’, along with Hrithik Roshan.